A consortium of tech giants - who have dubbed themselves the"Rockstar Consortium" - have sued Google and more than a half dozen other rivals for violating Android-related patents.

The Google suit, filed Thursday in the infamous East Texas district court, accuses Google of violating seven patents related to technology that matches search terms with relevant advertising.

But the Rockstar Consortium - which includes Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry, and Sony - also filed suit against Asus, HTC, Huawei, LG, Pantech, Samsung, and ZTE, all of which offer Android-heavy lineups. The firms are accused of infringing on patents that Rockstar acquired in 2011 from Nortel, which cover wireless, wireless 4G, data networking, optical, voice, Internet, service provider, semiconductors, and other patent portfolios.

Google made a play for those Nortel patents two years ago, ultimately bidding $4.4 billion to purchase them. This prompted objections from rivals like Microsoft, AT&T, and Verizon, who argued that the patents would give the search giant an unfair advantage. In the end, Google's major rivals joined forces to outbid the search giant at $4.5 billion.

A month later, Google accused Apple, Microsoft, and other tech giants of trying to "strangle" Android with the coordinated Nortel patent purchase, and pledged to "intensely" defend its mobile OS through patent purchases of its own and opposition to what it considers anti-competitive patent bids.

Back in April, Google submitted comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that discussed what it believes are the dangers of patent trolls, or patent privateering.

"Trolls use the patents they receive to sue with impunitysince they don't make anything, they can't be countersued. The transferring company hides behind the troll to shield itself from litigation, and sometimes even arranges to get a cut of the money extracted by troll lawsuits and licenses," Matthew Bye, Google's senior competition counsel, wrote in a blog post. "Privateering lets a company split its patent portfolio into smaller sub-portfolios 'stacked' on each other, increasing the number of entities a firm must negotiate with and multiplying licensing costs. This behavior unfairly raises competitors' costs, ultimately driving up prices for consumers."

Ironically, Google's comments were submitted in conjunction with BlackBerry, which is part of the Rockstar Consortium now suing Google.

In a statement, consumer group Public Knowledge called the Rockstar Consortium a patent troll, and said the lawsuits highlight a dysfunctional patent system.

"Many of the patents asserted by Rockstar appear to be overly broad and of low quality," Charles Duan, director of Public Knowledge's patent reform project, said in a statement. "It is likely that its attempt to hobble its owners competitors in the courtroom will ultimately fail. But it will be expensive to reach that point, and whatever the outcome of the litigation, consumers will bear the cost."

About the Author

Before joining PCMag.com, Chloe covered financial IT for Incisive Media in NYC and technology policy for The National Journal's Technology Daily in Washington, DC. She has held internships at NBC's Meet the Press, washingtonpost.com, the Tate Gallery press office in London, Roll Call, and Congressional Quarterly. She graduated with a bachelor's deg... See Full Bio

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